Help please - laptop DVD/CD-R drive read problems

[Jeremy Browning]

Hi - I hope someone can help me.

I have a Fujitsu-Siemens AMILO D-8820 laptop that contains a CDRW/DVD drive
that Explorer identifies as a QSI SBW-241 (although the product spec on
their Website says the bundled drive is an SBW-161). I'm running Windows XP
Home, version 2002, Service Pack 1. I've downloaded and installed all the MS
recommended updates, and the drivers listed for the DVD drive are cdrom.sys,
imapi.sys, redbook.sys and storprop.dll - all MS drivers version
5.1.2600.1106 (xpsp1.020828-1920). There's also a MusicMatch driver -
MxlW2k.sys, version 1.1.0.114, listed.

The problem I'm having is that *some* CDs - not all, are just not seen by
Windows. I can't figure out why some are and some aren't, but typically CDs
that I've burned using the laptop itself can't be seen. Sometimes a reboot
cures this, and sometimes they can be seen by my 2nd partition - it does
seem very erratic. For example, I have succesfully ripped CD1 of the new
Beatles "Let It Be - Naked" to mp3 (for my own personal use!) but I've never
been able to see CD2.

When I insert a CD, the drive spins and the light flashes, but after about
20 seconds this stops and Explorer just shows the normal empty "DVD/CD-RW
Drive (K label. I've never had a problem actually *writing* to a blank CD,
though.

I've been in touch with Fujitsu-Siemens tech support and they've told me
that it's not a hardware problem (because, annoyingly, the drive can
*always* see their emergency disk) and so, not to put too fine a point on
it, it's not their problem.

Can anyone suggest what the problem might be, and how to resolve it? I've a
sneaky suspicion that the problem might have been introduced when I applied
one of the critial updates - I'm pretty certain it didn't happen a few
months ago when the laptop was new. I've tried to find updated or
non-generic drivers but without success.

Thanks a lot

Jerry


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[Quaoar]

Hi - I hope someone can help me.

I have a Fujitsu-Siemens AMILO D-8820 laptop that contains a CDRW/DVD
drive that Explorer identifies as a QSI SBW-241 (although the product
spec on their Website says the bundled drive is an SBW-161). I'm
running Windows XP Home, version 2002, Service Pack 1. I've
downloaded and installed all the MS recommended updates, and the
drivers listed for the DVD drive are cdrom.sys, imapi.sys,
redbook.sys and storprop.dll - all MS drivers version
5.1.2600.1106 (xpsp1.020828-1920). There's also a MusicMatch driver -
MxlW2k.sys, version 1.1.0.114, listed.

The problem I'm having is that *some* CDs - not all, are just not
seen by Windows. I can't figure out why some are and some aren't, but
typically CDs that I've burned using the laptop itself can't be seen.
Sometimes a reboot cures this, and sometimes they can be seen by my
2nd partition - it does seem very erratic. For example, I have
succesfully ripped CD1 of the new Beatles "Let It Be - Naked" to mp3
(for my own personal use!) but I've never been able to see CD2.

When I insert a CD, the drive spins and the light flashes, but after
about 20 seconds this stops and Explorer just shows the normal empty
"DVD/CD-RW Drive (K label. I've never had a problem actually
*writing* to a blank CD, though.

I've been in touch with Fujitsu-Siemens tech support and they've told
me that it's not a hardware problem (because, annoyingly, the drive
can
*always* see their emergency disk) and so, not to put too fine a
point on it, it's not their problem.

Can anyone suggest what the problem might be, and how to resolve it?
I've a sneaky suspicion that the problem might have been introduced
when I applied one of the critial updates - I'm pretty certain it
didn't happen a few months ago when the laptop was new. I've tried to
find updated or non-generic drivers but without success.

Thanks a lot

Jerry

The first thing to suspect is the medium itself. Make sure the blank CD
is compatible with the write speed of the drive. Test write at a lower
speed than you think the drive supports and see if the problem improves
or persists. Buy a better quality CD and test. BTW, what are you
writing with: Windows XP, or a third party software?

Q

 

[Guest]

Sounds like you did not "finalize" the CDs you burned.
CAuses the symproms you described. Check your burning
s/w options to "finalize" the CD after burning. Later!

 

[Jeremy Browning]

Sorry, I should have said - I'm using WinXP to burn the CDs. They're TDK
metallic so shouldn't be a problem with the media...?

J.